Day 3: Strokers Siding to Evans Head

Approximate Distance: 150 Km


I awoke just before dawn, slightly sore from the previous day, packed my equipment and headed off towards Byron Bay. As I made my way along the meandering valley roads, I had a moment of dreamlike tranquility. For a brief instance I felt as if I had found “Shangri-La” – a utopia that exists hidden from modern man. Aside from the fantastic views, cycling at dawn increases the probability of seeing nocturnal Australian fauna such as Kangaroos and Koalas as well as allowing me to complete a large number of kilometers before the temperature dramatically rises.

Eventually the rural roads ended and I ventured onto the Pacific Coast Highway. The PCH had a designated cycling lane, which helped to ease the nerves as vehicles sped by. Aside from a few passing cars and pastures filled with cattle, the PCH is desolate between towns, often resulting in oneself having to create entertainment. Once I have found my “stroke” or “rhythm” I often drift into long periods of thought, often about the most ridiculous topics. Typically I would start with a general question such as: If I were a Superhero what would my powers be? This initial question would then lead into a myriad of other questions such as: Who is my archenemy? What is their super-power? What would it be like to be friends with a Superhero such as Batman? Would Batman and Batgirl ever hook up? This would continue until one of the following happened: 1) Lost my “stroke” 2) Became distracted 3) The current thought lead into another line of thinking. If not lost in thought I would be singing as loud as possible. The country is the ideal place for bad singers to let loose.

While cycling, the sun on my back and therefore projecting my shadow ahead of me, I noticed an unusual image hovering above my head, it was a Magpie. It seems the eyes I had fashioned to my helmet were indeed working to repel the Magpies. I successfully thwarted an attack, no longer would I be an unsuspecting victim, or so I would believe. About an hour after I saw the ominous shadow, I had fallen deep into thought when a screeching black object grazed my cheek. Startled by the attack I let out high pitch scream and narrowly avoided swerving onto the PCH. As I regained control of the bike, the bird swooped from the other side. Scared, I pedaled faster; this seems to have only further provoked the bird. Only after I repeatedly swung and screamed at the bird did it fly away. Knowing I was once again safe I stopped and broke into hysterical laughter.

Kangaroos Everywhere!!! The 20 KM road between PCH and Evans Head was littered with the bodies of dozens of kangaroos. It was during this stretch of road that I became aware of the detrimental effects deforestation has on an eco-system. Hopefully by the end of the journey I will see live Kangaroos. On a lighter note, I spotted the following snake (appears to be a boa constrictor) in a tree while searching for Koalas.

I arrived in Evans Head around 3 PM and would spend the night at the Silver Sands Caravan Park. The park was packed with vacationing Queenslanders. After setting up my tent, I explored town and walked the beach. That evening while making dinner at the communal BBQ’s I was approached by a lady and her husband who asked, “Are you the young fellow on the bicycle?” I replied, “Yes”. The lady then began to explain how they had passed me on the PCH outside of Ballina that morning. She mentioned that her grandkids were excited to see someone traveling via bicycle and that she saw me pull into the Silver Sands while they were checking in. After a brief conversation she left and came back a few minutes later with her grandkids. It was fun talking with their family while making dinner. The grandkids had a lot of questions, which I was more than happy to answer.


Through our conversation the topic of Magpies arose and her husband informed me that during this season (nesting) the male and female stick close together. If I happen to see two Magpies fly off in different directions, the female will fly to the nest and the male will fly to a nearby tree and prepare to swoop the intruder. With this information I was even more prepared to “fight the war on terror”.

As the sun set, something amazing happened, the trees along the beach came alive. Within minutes the orange sky was filled with hundreds, if not, thousands of fruit bats.

Tomorrow I head for Grafton.




Pig running down the side of the road.